1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus which utilizes the electrophotography method, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus which forms an electrostatic latent image on a photoconductive member by a light emitting diode (LED) head and makes the latent image visible so as to perform an image display, and furthermore forms a hard copy by developing the latent image with toner and transferring the developed image onto a predetermined sheet.
2. Description of Related Art
Among various kinds of printing apparatus, printing apparatus with displays, such as a small CRT and a liquid crystal, have been recently developed. These displays make it possible to display an image before the image is formed on a sheet and to confirm the image to be printed.
On the other hand, a well-known type of conventional electrophotographic apparatus forms an electrostatic latent image on a photoconductive member, makes the latent image visible by sticking toner to the latent image by a developing device and forms the desired display image. In such an electrophotographic apparatus, a window for visual confirmation made of, for example, glass, is mounted in the body of the apparatus and a toner image formed on a photoconductive member is moved to the visual confirmation window where it can be visually confirmed from the outside.
However, since the printing apparatus with a display uses a display, such as a small CRT or a liquid crystal, as a display device, an image to be printed cannot be displayed with high resolution due to the structure of the apparatus, and furthermore, the displayed image is extremely small. In order to display a large image with high resolution, it is necessary to make the display large. As a result, the whole apparatus becomes large.
In the electrophotographic apparatus which displays a toner image, since a CRT and a liquid crystal display are unnecessary, it is possible to easily display a relatively large image with high resolution in a relatively narrow space. However, the toner stuck onto the photoconductive belt scatters, sticks to a glass plane or the like at the visual confirmation window and contaminates the window. As a result, visibility of the toner image is lowered in an extremely short period.